Better Half
by Cresenta's Lark
Summary: As much as she lies about it, she has never been able to get over Tim Scam. So when his brother, a seemingly perfect guy who looks like him but is his total opposite enters her world she finds herself instantly falling for him. But is Scam's brother really that perfect? Truly the better half of the Scam siblings? The right one for her? Or are things not all that they seem? Sam/Scam


I'm still sick BUT I _thinkkkk_ I've got something new for you today! YAY happy thoughts! :D

I wrote this while taking a tiny break from the **oneshot** you guys requested. I'm still working on that but since I somehow finished this thing, I thought I'd post. I'm interested to _**hear your reactions**_ to this potentially, brand new story. ^_^

It'll help me decide if this should even be written or not. Anyway see you at the bottom in the **AN**!

Disclaimer: TS does not belong to me. Painful thought I know but alas. *sigh*

* * *

Pacing back and forth in his office Jerry could barely contain his excitement. He hadn't been able to sleep last night. No he had been much, much too hyper to sleep. Biting his cheek to contain a smile Jerry glanced at his watch. Any minute now the phone call he was waiting for would come.

Putting his arm down he paced around for a little longer before glancing at the phone again. Unfortunately it still wasn't ringing. Sighing to himself he thought of something else to pass the time. His eyes landing on his breakfast which was rapidly getting cold, he decided to eat. He did have to do that still.

But as soon as he sat down to take a bite, the phone finally rang. Abandoning his toast immediately, he reached for the phone. Picking it up he smiled before putting it up to his ear and speaking.

"Good morning. So how was your flight? No problems getting here I take it?" Jerry continued smiling away as he spoke to the man on the other end of the phone call happily.

Hearing a favorable response he nodded his head. "Good. I'm glad to hear that." His eyes moving to his watch he noted the time. 10:45 am. _His_ flight had been right on time then.

"So should I be expecting you shortly?"

…

Jerry's eyes lit up when he heard him say that he would be at WOOHP in less than a half hour.

"Looking forward to it," he said before ending the call and grinning to himself in a pleased manner. With a half hour left to go there was just one thing left to do to prepare. Moving his hand to a button on his desktop console, Jerry paused before hitting the "WOOHPing" key and summoning the girls. Things were going to change around WOOHP from this point on but it remained to see just how much with this new addition.

As happy as he was, he was still nervous and for _good_ reason but still couldn't help but be excited for the future. If it all went to plan he knew exactly where he wanted this to go. Finally and at long last he had hope for second in command at WOOHP… and possibly an heir to take over his role one day.

 _Again._

Trying his best not to think of the last time he'd been so optimistic about having that, because thinking of _him_ would only make him doubt this decision he'd made (which would be unfair to say the least) Jerry finally pressed the button and waited for his top three spies to arrive. He had to break the news to them first.

* * *

"So what do you guys want to do today?" Alex asked as she sat with her two best friends in the whole world on the couch of their Beverly Hills villa, eating breakfast and enjoying Saturday morning for the first time in months.

It was summer, college was done, they had graduated from Malibu University just a week ago and for whatever reason they had not had a single WOOHP mission in two whole days (which pretty much equalled eternity when it came to their stern, party pooper boss who loved to overwork them to the literal bone).

Perhaps it was a grad present, maybe there was another reason for it but honestly they didn't care. They had to make the most of the WOOHP-free time before it was taken away from them.

With that in mind Clover set down her carton of fat free yogurt and turned to her friends with an excited grin on her face. "How about we plan that tropical getaway to Barbados we wanted to take once we graduated?'

"Take a month long vacation?" Sam laughed as she remembered Clover's fun but totally unrealistic plan. "And what would WOOHP do without us once we ran off? Get annihilated by the criminals we'd normally be around to stop?"

"Ugh! Sammie!" Clover screamed out almost pulling out her own blonde hair. "WHY are you always thinking of WOOHP criminals?!" she asked, knowing no matter what they were doing the redhead always found a way of mentioning the baddies they faced almost on a daily basis.

Sure Sam was a great spy but she had to be obsessed with her job or something to act in such a manner. WOOHP and its criminals especially always appeared to be on her mind.

"You're not just a spy, you're also a young woman! Have some fun for once! Sheesh!" Clover shouted firmly.

"Right, right. Um Sorry," Sam nodded sheepishly while never bothering to reveal to Clover just why WOOHP criminals always seemed to be on her mind. Well one criminal if she was to be quite honest with herself. It was just one that always stayed on her mind. Just one particular menace of villain and very troubling man.

A hurricane, a tornado, a volcano all wrapped up into one dark, sinister, deadly, _beautiful_ chaos.

The image of a tall, brown-hared, tan, sea green-eyed, smirking male appeared behind her mind's eye and she did her best to chase it away. But it was impossible for her to keep her heart from fluttering at his memory no matter how hard she tried. It had been years now since she'd renounced that crush but whenever she thought of him for even a fleeting moment or even heard his name … secretly her heart would jump up and down and runs laps insider her chest.

It was like she had no control over her heart when it came to him. As if he had snuck inside her heart and reprogrammed it somehow to beat triple fast just for him, just like the evil, crafty mastermind that he was.

Right as she was having that thought the couch beneath her began to rumble and move. Exchanging glances with Clover and Alex, Sam sighed and the three girls collectively groaned at what this meant. No it wasn't an earthquake, once again they were being WOOHPed (A not so creative term for when the spy agency they worked for yanked them out of their daily lives to run all around the world and stop havoc in its tracks). A second after the couch flipped over and the girls were falling down a familiar blue tunnel.

"Well so much for a tropical getawayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!" Alex called out in frustration as she fell while Clover tried her best to cling onto the top of the tunnel in a futile attempt to avoid being summoned by Jerry. "Nooooooooooooooo! Nooooooooo! Not nowwwwwwwwwww! I didn't even get to start planningggggggggggggg!" she screeched, her voice getting quieter and quieter on the way down the chute.

* * *

Landing on the uncomfortable red couch in Jerry's office on top of each other in a tangled heap of arms and legs a few moments later, Clover, Alex, and Sam all sighed resignedly as they shook their heads as they found themselves in the presence of their aforementioned stern boss once more.

Well … it had been fun while it had lasted.

Sitting up and straightening her back out of all the cracks she heard when she did that, Clover looked at Jerry who was standing there in his usual pose (arms crossed over his chest, grave look on his face) with weary eyes. "Another mission?" she said tiredly.

Detecting all the apathy in her tone Jerry rolled his eyes to himself. "No, not today. But would it really be so much too ask for a little enthusiasm on your part if there was?"

"Hey I haven't quit after all these years! I think that's enthusiasm enough!" Clover snapped shaking a fist at him angrily.

"Can we PLEASE just know why you dragged us out of lives YET again so we can deal with it and go back to more important things?" Alex added sounding just as irritated as the blonde.

Opening his mouth Jerry was about to say that their spy careers should be the thing of utmost importance to them all but then let it go. That was a lecture for another day. Today there were more important things at hand. _Much_ more important things.

"Girls, I called you all here today to welcome a new agent." Pausing, Jerry bit his cheek in thought. "Well not new per say but new to this branch of WOOHP. He's been in Paris all this time but he's been working for WOOHP for years."

"So why did you bring us all here for that?" Clover asked unimpressed as she inspected her nails in boredom. "Is he going to go on missions with us?" She said, not really getting any other reason why Jerry would make such a big deal out of bringing over an agent from international to join the Los Angeles branch.

But that was only until she remembered something. Wait … didn't Dean work in WOOHP's Paris branch?

"OH MY GOD…" She said suddenly as she looked at Jerry in interest for the first time. "Is it Dean?!" Hearing Sam and Alex gasp from next to her Clover knew that they were thinking the same thing as she was. If this male mystery agent turned out to be Dean then their Saturday plans being ruined would be totally worth it.

Jerry couldn't help but laugh at the looks on their faces. To say that they crush all three had on Dean was more than obvious would be a vast understatement. But that was one of the reasons why he refused to bring Dean to Los Angeles full time. He didn't want to give them even more reasons to be distracted from their spy duties. God knew they had enough of those already.

Seeing Jerry shake his head no in response to their question, they sighed heavily but couldn't help but not be shocked because they had expected as much by now. Like Jerry would ever bring an agent that would help their romantic prospects. He probably wanted them all to end up like him eventually. All alone and married to their spy work.

"… But it's a familiar face," they heard him say and they looked at each other in confusion because they honestly weren't sure which other guy there was at WOOHP that the knew besides the one that he had just told them that his mystery agent wasn't.

"Jer, it's too early in the morning for riddles," Sam said tiredly, voicing what they were all thinking as Clover and Alex nodded in agreement. "Would you just tell us?"

"Okay, okay." Jerry said holding his hands up in defeat. Taking a deep breath he decided to finally tell them. Though in the back of his mind he wondered how they would take the news. And he sincerely hoped they wouldn't be too hard on _him_.

"His name is Thomas. Thomas…" he paused for a long moment before finally saying his full name. "Thomas Scam."

The moment those words left his lips the room became quiet in silenced confusion, almost as if someone somewhere had abruptly hit the mute key. Scam, had Jerry just said that this agent had the last name … Scam?

"Hey isn't that the same last name as Tim Scam?" Alex finally said a few moments later with a giggle as she waved her hand airily. "What a weird coincidence!"

"It's not a coincidence." Jerry said firmly, crossing his arms over his chest as he regarded the spies with a serious look on his face as if to let them know he was being one hundred percent honest here and that this was no joke. "He _is_ Tim Scam's brother."

Hearing silence fill the room again Jerry knew they were starting to understand just why he had called them all here to let them know of Scam's brother joining them beforehand. So that they wouldn't confuse him with his deadlier counterpart.

Unable to say anything the girls just looked at each other stunned as they struggled to wrap their heads around this bombshell. Tim Scam had a brother and he was a WOOHP agent?!

"…And you're okay with this?" Clover breathed out in disbelief as she looked at Jerry with a suspicious eyes. Wouldn't he have issues with the sibling of one of WOOHP's greatest foes being an agent? How could he possibly trust him? How could he know he wasn't working as a mole for Scam while pretending to be on their side?

Jerry's next words answered those concerns. "Of course I am," he said coolly as he thought about the man in question with a smile on his face. "Thomas has been working at WOOHP for years, pretty much ever since his brother turned his back on the agency. He's been at the Paris branch to avoid confusion until now but today he's taking over the position of Official Head of the Weapons Department in Los Angeles as he's the best man for the job. In fact he's almost as good as Tim Scam himself was when he held the position-"

Holding up her hand to halt him, Clover looked at him seriously. "That's all good Jer but do you _trust_ him?" she said knowing that was the most important thing here. Even if Thomas appeared to have a long history at WOOHP, his being Scam's brother, the brother of a man who had betrayed WOOHP in the worst possible way made her nervous to say the least.

And he was going to be working alongside them? Well, that thought was at least just a little bit _scary_.

"I do trust him," Jerry said sounding as sure as he possibility could and smiling harder as if to assure them this was all okay and they had nothing to worry about even though they felt that they still did.

"Thomas Scam and Tim Scam are total opposites. You'll see when you meet him," they heard him say. And right then the double glass doors to his office opened and a man walked in. And when their eyes fell on him they all froze on the spot as they stared back at him with wide, unblinking eyes.

Sure Jerry may say he was Scam's complete opposite but his looks sure didn't help paint that picture because he looked like a splitting image of him save for a few small differences in appearance.

Thomas was as handsome as his brother with the same dark brown hair in almost the same style, though he had his bangs slicked back from his forehead compared to how Scam let his fall slightly messily at eye level. He was tall, appearing to be around six feet which made him just a few inches shorter than Tim but he looked just as muscular . His skin was slightly lighter than Scam's tanned one and instead of the smirk that his devious brother usually wore upon seeing them, Thomas was smiling back at them as he stood there meeting them for the very first time.

Glued to her spot a few feet away from him, Sam wasn't even breathing as she looked at Thomas Scam. She couldn't believe how much he looked like Tim. In fact he looked almost exactly like Tim had when she had first laid eyes on him in this exact office for the very first time as he had been sitting there in Jerry's chair dressed in WOOHP uniform, the same uniform that Thomas was wearing right now.

He looked like a carbon copy of that man, Mac Smit as he'd called himself then, the same guy that she had fallen in love with at first sight back when she thought he was good. Before it all went so terribly wrong.

But the way he was standing before her now, it was like she was there in that same spot again, as if someone had hit rewind on her life to three years ago and she was reliving her past instead of living her present. Not meeting Thomas Scam, but meeting Tim Scam for the first time. _Again._

And without meaning to, she sent a smile Thomas' way and he instantly smiled back at her making her heart flutter inside her chest.

"Hi," he said and Jerry walked over to him with a grin now on his lips. "Welcome to the WOOHP Los Angeles team Thomas. We'll get you up to speed on your new job soon but first I'd like you to meet our finest agents."

Turning to the girls Jerry introduced them to Thomas one by one. "This is Clover McSell," he said and Thomas said a polite "it's nice to meet you" as he reached out to shake her hand and Clover stiffly shook his back.

"And this is Alexandra Vasquez," Jerry said directing his attention to the black-haired girl who shook his hand as awkwardly as Clover had though a little less obviously than the blonde and as such Thomas smiled and said that it was good to meet her before he turned and looked at the last spy standing there. The redhead. The one that had smiled at him earlier.

"And this is Samantha Simpson," he heard Jerry say and Thomas looked at her in interest as he reached out and took her hand in his, shaking it as he kept his eyes glued to her face. Sure the other two girls weren't bad to look at but in his opinion she was the prettiest.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," he said softly, still staring at her but Sam wasn't really looking at him. She was too busy looking down at how he was holding her hand in his and blushing at that timidly like a shy, little schoolgirl with a crush.

Shaking his hand as well when her brain finally registered that that was what she was supposed to be doing, Sam finally looked up at him again and noting him smiling down at her, her lips automatically formed a smile back.

A smile looked so good on his face, she privately thought to herself. And she couldn't help but secretly hope that he would ditch his usual smirk to smile like this at her more than he usually did. Not that she hated his smirk or anything but she would prefer to have him smile at her instead of-

"But seriously Jerry. Don't we need to worry about Scam using his brother to commit havoc around WOOHP? I mean they look pretty similar save for-"

" _His eyes,_ _"_ Sam finished for Clover in her head as she noticed that difference for the first time now that she was looking at Thomas clearly. Thomas had light brown, almost amber eyes instead of Tim's rare sea foam gaze. And when that thought settled in, for the first time Sam saw the man whose hand she was still holding for who he really was. Thomas Scam. Thomas Scam, Tim Scam's brother. Not _Tim. Not him._

Awkwardly she found herself finally pulling her hand away from his and stepping back as she chastised herself. What… what was she doing? Shaking her head she struggled to get a grip on herself while Jerry answered Clover's latest question.

"I'm quite sure Tim Scam wouldn't do that," Jerry said calmly, too calmly. And watching Clover stare back at him with heavy amount of doubt plastered all over her face Jerry knew he had to explain further. Clover didn't know anything about the Scam brothers, but he did.

"For all the horrible things Tim Scam has done, he's always left Thomas and his career at WOOHP alone," he said and Thomas nodded, confirming Jerry's words.

"Yea as shocking as that is," he said and heard the three woman before him almost stop breathing again. It was as if every time he opened his mouth they went on high alert and he knew it was because of their past with his evil brother. He had to find some way to fix this. He didn't want the three best agents, as Jerry had called them, to have any reason to doubt him. That was the last thing he needed as he finally began his dream job at WOOHP.

"Look…" he said, taking a small, careful step towards them as if to not scare them away. "I just want to say that you don't need to worry about me. I'm not…" he paused, looking frustrated and almost a little disgusted as he said the next part. "I'm not my brother. I know my boundaries and loyalties and I'd never do anything to hurt WOOHP ever."

Feeling Jerry place his hand on his shoulder, Thomas relaxed a bit as he heard his boss speak to him in an reassuring tone. "I know that Tom. I trust you and I know you won't let me down. Your being related to Tim Scam isn't going to make anyone think less of you. It didn't affect you in Paris and it won't affect you here. I will make sure of that."

Letting out a small chuckle Jerry lightened the mood by saying, "And besides, anyone who spends any time with you will see how different you are from your brother. You are an honest man. A good man-"

"And Tim's the worst," Thomas finished for him resolutely and Jerry gave him a tight lipped smile and a nod at that. "Right… so you really shouldn't worry."

Glancing back at Clover, Alex, and Sam, Jerry decided he should let them go. They had met Thomas and he didn't have mission for them just yet. Might as well let them go and make peace with Thomas being here before he sent them off on spy work again.

"So now that you have all exchanged pleasantries, girls you are free to go for now. I need to get Thomas settled into his new role here."

Nodding their heads, the girls moved to leave the office. They weren't exactly sure what to make of Thomas Scam just yet but they guessed the would find out over time as it appeared he was here to stay. Jerry had made that bit crystal clear.

Walking away with her friends, Sam stayed silent but in the back of her mind she couldn't help but notice the one thing she had already picked up about Thomas' personality and relationship with his brother.

Thomas was very, _very_ quick to put Tim down. And she couldn't help but wonder why. Sure the man was no saint, far from it, but his own brother bashing him so readily just felt wrong. And she realized there could only be two reasons for this.

One, either Thomas really wanted them to like him so he felt he needed to attack his brother to show how he was the better man compared to him. Or two, there were some _issues_ between Tim and him.

And at that thought she wondered to herself if there was anyone left in Tim Scam's life that he hadn't made a complete enemy out of … besides her.

Sighing, she mentally kicked herself for her inappropriate thought over her enemy _again_ before stepping out of Jerry's office to get on her with life.

But she was stopped in her tracks when she heard Thomas say her name from behind her, asking her if she could be so kind as to give him a little tour of WOOHP to help him get used to his surroundings here.

Hearing Jerry say okay to that Sam turned around and looked at Thomas as he came over to her. "Would you mind?" he said and Sam fumbled with herself to make up some excuse to get out of this. Clover, Alex and her already had plans for today that they needed to get back to before they were actually handed another mission.

But as she opened her mouth to say no to him, she watched Thomas's lips lift up into another charming smile. And before she could stop herself she found herself giving in.

"Okay. Maybe just a quick tour," she said before heading into the opposite direction from her friends with Thomas following closely and never once noting the puzzled looks on her best friends' faces as she left them behind to give Thomas his tour.

* * *

Whistling to himself as he sat there waiting for the traffic light to turn green, Thomas was in a great mood as he thought about the events of this morning. His flight had gone perfectly and his welcome to Los Angles' WOOHP branch could not have gone any better.

He had met the rest of the personnel in the weapons division he would be heading, his job had been explained to him and he was set to start as early as tomorrow morning.

But his favourite part of being here so far had easily been the tour of the WOOHP building he had received by Samantha Simpson. Smiling to himself he found himself zoning out a little as he thought about her, _his_ lovely redheaded tour guide. From his brief meeting with her he had to conclude that she was smart. Very very smart. Likely as intelligent as she was _beautiful_.

Too caught up in his thoughts, Thomas never heard the sound of his car doors clicking open nor noticed someone getting in next to him. But he was rendered alert again when he heard the door shut with a thud and felt what felt like the cool tip of a knife press gently against the side of his neck.

His blood ran cold and from the corner of his eye he glanced at his attacker. As they were wearing all black including a black cloth mask that hid all of their face, he couldn't tell much. All he could tell from their frame was that this person was a man. A tall, strong, muscular man.

"Keep driving," he heard the man next to him say coldly, a threat clear in his voice as he kept the knife's tip nestled near his neck silently letting him know what he would do to him if he didn't.

Deciding driving would give him some time to formulate a plan of escape, Thomas noticed the light had turned green and did as the guy said and continued driving in silence.

He had been driving for around ten minutes when the man seated next to him told him to pull over into the vacant parking lot that was up coming up soon ahead.

Feeling more nervous than ever now as he did as he was told , Thomas knew that he had to do something to save himself. He was about a minute away from being robbed or murdered or worse in his very own car.

Trying his best to appear calm as he parked his car, in his head he wondered if he should just attack this man back and take his chances with getting the knife off of him. He was a trained agent after all.

And he was about to do just that, fight back or die trying when the man let out small laugh. A chuckle that he recognized well. A little _too well_.

And soon he watched him take the knife off his throat and tuck it into the pocket of his black trench coat before pulling off his black mask and proceeding to greet him with a smirk. A smirk that he once again knew. All _too well_.

His jaw dropping open, Thomas only sat in shock for around two seconds before he closed his mouth and rolled his eyes at the man that he now recognized.

It was his brother, the infamous devil in the flesh. _Tim Scam_.

"What's up bro?" he heard him say as he smirked away at him with his sea green eyes lighting up in sheer amusement. "Think you can come to LA and not tell me?"

The smirk on his lips widened another few inches as he let out a small "tsk" and shook his head in disappointment as if he had expected so much better.

" **Think again.** **"**

* * *

And that's chapter one! :D

I created the character of _Thomas Scam_ ages ago (including a picture of him which I will probably use as the cover eventually when I find it) but wasn't sure what kind of character I saw him being. I knew I wanted him at odds with Scam but Scam still caring for him regardless of … things. You'll see how the sibling dynamic is between the "Scam brothers" better if I continue this.

And then there is the _small matter_ of Sam. I'm sure you can already see trouble brewing on that front xD

Oh and interesting fact: The name Thomas literally means "twin" which is why I chose it. Well that and it's close to Tim lol.

Also the _title_ of this story has a few hidden meanings as to what the story is about. I'll leave you guys to guess for now. :P

ANYWAY!

Should I continue this? _Yes? No?_ Any thoughts? **PLEASE let me know!**

Thanks,

Cresenta


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